Attractions & things to do for the kids in your life

VISITOR INFORMATION

Schedule / hours: 2017: Spring (April 30 to May 13) Seven days a week – 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Summer (May 14 to Sept. 5).Admission price: 2017: $5/adults, $3/seniors and 6 to 12 years old, FREE 5 years and under or maximum of $22 per vehicle.Address: 811 Forks of the Credit Road CaledonPhone: 519-927-5838Website: www.creditvalleycons.comNearby restaurants: • On a busy weekend, leave your car at Belfountain Conservation Area after your stroll and walk to the village of Belfountain, a 15-minute walk away. It is small but has a well stocked general sotre, a great coffee shop Shed, which also sells delicious soup and scones in the fall. There’s a snack bar next door.While you are there: • If you keep going on the trail instead of crossing the little bridge to head back to your starting point, you’ll leave Belfountain Conservation Area and will enter the Bruce Trail (a great addition to your outing during the fall).Age group: 2 - 16 years old

Small is beautiful

A tiny 1.5-km trail goes around Belfountain Conservation Area. The park boasts a fountain, a pond, a "cave", rumbling waterfall and a suspension bridge. The winding path starts up the escarpment and leads us into the depths of the ravine towards a bridge crossing the crystalline river. Nice picnic spots lie at the bottom of the steps, by the water. Swimming is not allowed but you can fish. The cold, spring-fed water of the West Credit River is the perfect habitat for trout and other fish.

The man-made Yellow Stone "mini-cave" (in which we can get get into) fires up fertile imaginations and the suspension bridge just downstream from the dam is long enough to impress children. When we visited, a path began beside the fountain. It disappeared under the trees and ran alongside the roaring river that lies 25 metres below. (This was a good time to hold on to the little ones! At times, the path's incline was quite steep.) It brought us to a bridge standing one metre over the stream, where kids played a good while. It continued on the other side of the river and led us back to the suspension bridge along a challenging trail filled with roots.

Wondering what lies beyond the Belfountain trail (past the suspended bridge)? See this blog with photos and informative captions!